Nam Hyun-woo has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2013, mostly covering business and politics. He currently belongs to the Business Desk where he covers topics such as emerging tech, AI, ICT and Korea's chaebol community. Prior to joining the team, he was the paper's correspondent for the presidential office of Korea during the Yoon Suk Yeol and Moon Jae-in administrations.
WRTN calls for public-private cooperation on AI literacy education
WRTN CEO Lee Se-young, center, speaks during the K-AI Literacy Future Education Forum hosted by Rep. Cho In-cheul of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, left, at the National Assembly in Seoul, Tuesday. Courtesy of WRTN
By Nam Hyun-woo
Lee Se-young, CEO of artificial intelligence (AI) platform firm WRTN, on Tuesday called for public-private sector cooperation to improve the education environment for AI literacy among the Korean general public.
During the K-AI Literacy Future Education Forum hosted by Rep. Cho In-cheul of the Democratic Party of Korea, Lee stressed that AI literacy has become a key national capability reflecting a country’s competitiveness and social inclusivity. However, he pointed out that there is virtually no publicly supported AI literacy education available to the general public in Korea.
“Although Korean workers use AI in their work more frequently than their U.S. counterparts, the actual reduction in working hours is lower in Korea,” he said. “While many people actively use AI in Korea, many are not using it effectively and efficiently, and policies addressing this gap remain insufficient.”
The forum was organized to highlight the importance of AI education for the general public, especially for younger generations, to narrow the gap between those who can effectively use AI and those who cannot. More than 40 experts, school inspectors, teachers and other officials from the education sector participated the forum, sharing their views on how AI is being used in education.
Participants pose during the K-AI Literacy Future Education Forum at the National Assembly in Seoul, Tuesday. Korea Times photo by Nam Hyun-woo
To improve the AI literacy of the Korean public, Lee said WRTN is pursuing an education business composed of three stages: basic, practical and advanced. The programs include basic courses on creating prompts for beginners, AI feed-building courses and an incubator program for entrepreneurs. Through various partnerships, WRTN has so far provided AI education to 308 institutions and about 25,000 participants.
“The ultimate goal of AI literacy education is to help everyone naturally integrate AI into their lives and work,” Lee said. “So far, WRTN has approached education as part of its mission, but we’ve realized that public-private collaboration is essential to scale up AI literacy education. Such partnerships are crucial not only for expansion but also for ensuring the program’s sustainability.”
To that end, Lee proposed a structure in which the government provides policy support for AI service and education companies, while those companies develop educational content and conduct training programs. In this structure, municipal education offices would allocate budgets and design programs to implement the education in practice.
“With the private sector providing content and the public sector establishing fair and inclusive education policies, a real synergy can be created,” Lee said. “I believe it won’t be difficult to recreate the kind of innovation we witnessed in the internet era.”
Cho noted that AI literacy education is part of a broader effort to strengthen the competencies of democratic citizens, adding that “schools, businesses and the government must work together to cultivate the ability to use AI effectively.”